Two More Philippines Colleges Offer Biotech Course

Two schools will offer a biotechnology course in the coming semester, following the path taken by the National Institute for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB) in UP Diliman.

The Cavite State University (CSU) and University of Southern Mindanao (USM) will begin offering 3 units of biotechnology courses to college students next semester.

It was UP-NIMBB that pioneered the course and attracted many students to study such new fields as genetic enhancement, biofuels and even forensics, since biotechnology is also involved in determining the DNA of each organism.

Now, UP-NIMBB is pushing for the integration and institution of biotechnology as a course for students in general education.

NMIBB director Dr. Cynthia Hedreyda says that while there is limitless information on biotechnology, there is not enough popular awareness of the subject.

“Ang nagpo-poularize lang kasi nito is academe-based eh, and then of course Department of Agriculture (DA) has some activities about it, like the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), pero other than that wala na,” she says.

The only solution to this, she says, is to institute biotechnology as a course in general education subjects.

“By instituting it in colleges will greatly improve awareness of biotechnology,” says Hedreyda.

At least 10 other colleges and universities are now in the process of integrating the course in their biology subjects.

The constraint that hampers other institutions from following suit is the lack of funding and faculty members.

Other colleges and universities are just waiting for a more solid push from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to implement biotechnology courses in their curricular offerings.

“They would be willing if CHEd will issue a memo, and according naman dun sa CHEd representative who visited us, hindi ganun ka-simple,” Hedreyda says.

A CHEd memo would mean additional budget, and the funds are not enough. That is why, Hedreyda hopes, government will have more support for science education in the coming years.

At present, only only UP Diliman and UP Mindanao have instituted biotechnology as a general education course. Since the course was offered in 2004, the interest of students was heightened.

In the beginning, Hedreyda recalls, only 30 students would enroll in biotechnology courses and there was only one section then. Now, there is not enough room for students showing interest in the subject. In June, for example, UP Diliman will have four sections taking in only 45 students per class.

She says interest in the subject have stemmed from the common misconceptions that come with biotechnology,

“Yung mga news na naririnig nila, marami sasabihin totoo ho ba yung headless chicken? Sabi ko nga sa kanila, kung totoo yan GMA 7 and ABS-CBN will not miss that. The mere fact that you don’t see that on TV means that it’s not true at all. We want to give them science-based information,” Hedreyda explains.

Biotechnology courses cover a variety of topics from the history of traditional and modern biotechnology, the use of biotechnology for health, environment, industry, legal battles and ethical issues.

Lectures are mostly done through powerpoint presentations, but students are also given laboratory tours and shown samples of biotechnology products and crops.

Hedreyda says one factor that interests students into enrolling the subject is the interest for DNA information.

“Gustong-gusto nila yung exercises minsan iba sa kanila will play as the detective,” she says. (biolife news service)

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